This week I’m talking about the next step of the WordPress self hosting journey; when you decide to actually do it. There’s also a great deal at the end of this post for anyone that’s considering going self hosted.

If you’re still not sure if self hosting is for you check out last weeks post on the reasons why people are doing it here . In summary, I’m ready to run my own show and try to take blogging to the next step which, judging by last weeks comments, is the same for a lot of you.

Do you need someone to help you go self-hosted?

Ok, the short answer is no, you can definitely do it by yourself. In preparing for this article I spent about 30 minutes on google and managed to get several detailed references that took you through how to move from WordPress.com or blogspot.com to a self hosted WordPress.org site. I have also, however, used google to figure out how to take apart a mac book pro (that is no longer with us), fit new mountain bike brakes (that have never stopped squeaking and occasionally not stopped the bike) and plait my daughters hair (which is a blog post in itself).

The point I’m trying to make is that yes, you can do it yourself however it’s nice to have someone there who knows what they are doing. For example, my research didn’t tell me much about;

The different ways you can set up worpdress.com or blogspot.com to refer to your new website. This is really important because it can impact the your google rank and stats

How to move all the images from your old blog to the new one

Making sure any internal and external links still work on your new site

Making sure all your comments are moved

Keeping down time of your site to the absolute minimum

What DNS and MySQL is and why it’s really important

As I said, you can do it yourself but if like me you’ve spent time and effort in building content, an audience and traffic you’re going to want to hold on to them

Who is out there that can help?

Again, check Google and you will get a long list of businesses that can help you transition to a self hosted wordpress.org site. You can even purchase a transfer service from within wordpress.com. In deciding to make the move I knew that I wanted;

Someone I could talk with, either online or on the phone. I didn’t want to be filling out support tickets and waiting 24 hours for a response

An Australian based company. Part of this is a timezone thing with the likelihood of being able to talk to someone increasing if they are awake when you are. The other part is a trust thing. It’s probably subjective but I think it’s easier to research a company that is based in Australia than overseas

A self hosted wordpress specialist. I didn’t want to work with someone who was simply doing the same googling I was doing. I wanted someone who had genuine experience and could show me sites previously migrated so I could check links and images myself.

There were a few companies that seemed to fit my criteria above. The ones that were recommended to me were;

A look through the comments on my last post shows a lot of people have a lot of good things to say about Michelle over at Little Hero Hosting & Little Hero Designs. In my experience Michelle has been great. So far she has already made things quicker, easier and less risky than if it was in left in the hands of someone who had no idea of what they are doing (ie – me).

How much should you expect to pay to move to self-hosted wordpress.org?

Costs vary. WordPress.com charges $129 US for a guided transfer where you still need to do some of the leg work. Others charge between $150 and $450 with the level of interaction and support varying within that as well.

But do I have a deal for you…

Michelle has a great offer available for Illiterate Infant readers who are keen to go on the self hosting journey with Little Hero Hosting & Little Hero Designs . Michelle is offering anyone who signs up between now and the 30th of June 2013 25% offmigrations and the first three months hostingfree (if you pay for an annual plan) . All you need to do is;

Next up we’ll talk about getting ready. What you need to do, what you’ll need to pay for and what to expect on moving day. In the mean time, are you considering moving? Have you had an experience, good or bad with going self hosted? Have you worked with anyone you would recommend?

Like what your reading? Can’t risk missing another post? Want to see how this crazy adventure turns out? Then why not keep up on all thing Illiterate via the Facebook page, twitter or bloglovin?

We’re right behind you and about to sign up with Little Hero Hosting. Am taking the plunge today ~ with thanks to both your articles and the helpful advice from Michelle. Cheers, Alison from Undertendollars

PERFECT timing, I’ve totally been thinking about this but not sure if and how to do it! I will go back and read your previous article. It all seems VERY scary for me because my knowledge in these matter is extremely limited, writing I can do, the rest I battle! Thanks Kev , Emily

I’m oddly proud that I know what DNS and MySQL are. 🙂
It is a huge job. I had someone ask me for help moving and I said I would try, but if I couldn’t do it, she would most likely need professional help. Which I couldn’t and she did! Thankfully Michelle came to her rescue too!!! Good luck with it all Kev!

I think the only thing that holds me back is the cost. Unless I want to seriously consider taking more advertising or doing sponsored stuff, which I’m really not sure is for me, then I can’t justify payin an ongoing fee just to blog. I guess for me I’ve never really seriously thought about blogging as being a way to make money, it’s always just been a hobby. If I were to change careers though and go freelance, which u am seriously thinking of doing, then I would definitely do it if I could justify it as a business cost.

I haven’t even made the change from blogger to wordpress, and self-hosting is a far away dream. Maybe I’m just happy in my little blogger bubble. I’m sure it will frustrate me soon enough to change! x Karen #teamIBOT

Oh my god dude. So. Much. Work. I’m tired just from reading your post.
And it’s sad, because 12 months ago I was all up in the “build an awesome blog!” zone and now writing consumes all of my energy as it is. But still, I’m intrigued.

Thanks for such great, easy to understand info! I’ve been surfing around for awhile, trying to piece together bits and pieces that I’ve read all over the place.. Finding it all in the one post is fantastic! Hooray for self hosting!